Didn't Chai Rong leave behind some loyalists? Why did Zhao Kuangyin get his hands on it so easily? In this article, I will talk to you about this topic.
Chai Rong's first loyal confidant was Zhao Kuangyin.
How much chai rong trusts Zhao Kuangyin, we only need to know one thing, in Chai Rong's later years, the supreme commander of the forbidden army was Zhang Yongde, who was Guo Wei's son-in-law, and Chai Rong was Guo Wei's adopted son, and the two were related.
After Chai Rong ascended the throne, Zhang Yongde followed him to conquer the Northern Han Dynasty and fight the Southern Tang, especially in the Battle of Gaoping, in the case of more than seventy senior generals fleeing from the battlefield, Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin helped Chai Rong to turn the tide, and finally defeated the Northern Han army and made a great contribution.
Afterwards, Zhao Kuangyin was appointed as the commander of the palace front capital, and Zhang Yongde was appointed as the head of the palace.
As we all know, the three most important positions of the Forbidden Army at that time were the commander of the palace, the commander of the Horse Army, and the commander of the infantry. And above these three positions, it is the inspection in front of the palace, which is equivalent to the supreme commander of the forbidden army.
In this sense, during Chai Rong's lifetime, Zhang Yongde's power and status had always been above Zhao Kuangyin. However, in Chai Rong's later years, especially in the period before his death, Chai Rong looked at his young son and began to be very uneasy about Zhang Yongde. Because, Zhang Yongde, as the son-in-law of Taizu Guo Wei, is also the supreme commander of the Forbidden Army, if someone threatens chai Rong's son's throne in the future, then this person is definitely Zhang Yongde.
In this context, Chai Rong ordered zhang Yongde's military power to be relieved, and at the same time had his first confidant Zhao Kuangyin take over Zhang Yongde's post in front of the palace. As a result, Zhao Kuangyin finally became the first person in the Later Zhou military circles, which led to his later "yellow robe plus body". Just think, if Zhang Yongde had not been relieved of his military powers, the "yellow robe plus body" would probably be Zhang Yongde.
Chai Rong's second confidant was called Shi Shouxin.
Shi Shouxin followed Guo Wei in his early years, only a mid-level officer, and later after Chai Rong succeeded to the throne, he followed Chai Rong to conquer the Northern Han Dynasty, and it was also in the Battle of Gaoping that more than seventy senior generals escaped from the battlefield, he chose to side with Chai Rong, thus being promoted by Chai Rong, and later promoted all the way, and eventually became Chai Rong's side, second only to Zhao Kuangyin's confidant.
In a sense, Chai Rong is Shi Shouxin's Bole, and Shi Shouxin's ability to develop is completely the result of Chai Rong's hand. Moreover, in Chai Rong's later years, while asking Zhao Kuangyin to succeed Zhang Yongde as the head of the palace, he also asked Shi Shouxin to take over the position of Zhao Kuangyin as the commander of the former palace, thus he also became the second person in the Later Zhou military circles.
Later, after Chai Rong's son succeeded to the throne, there was news that the Khitan and Northern Han combined forces to move south, so Zhao Kuangyin led his army north, and at this time Shi Shouxin became the highest military commander who stayed in Beijing. As a result, when Zhao Kuangyin "added his body in yellow robes" at Chen Qiaoyi and then returned to the capital with his troops, Shi Shouxin resolutely opened the city gate to meet him, and immediately sided with Zhao Kuangyin and forced the emperor to abdicate.
Chai Rong's third confidante was Wang Pu and Fan Qian.
Wang Pu successively served as the chancellor of the three dynasties of Later Zhou Taizu, Zhou Shizong, and Zhou Gong Emperor, equivalent to being the first person of Later Zhou Wenchen; Fan Qian was the only minister to enter the palace to accept Chai Rong's dying will, and the official was the counselor of the Privy Council, kaifu Yi tongsan division, and the duke of Xiaoguo, almost the second person in the Later Zhou Empire.
But as a result, as soon as Chai Rong died, Wang Pu colluded with Zhao Kuangyin and joined forces to lie about the news, saying that the Khitan and Northern Han combined forces to go south, forcing the imperial court to send Zhao Kuangyin to lead the army out.
As for Fan Qian, when Zhao Kuangyin killed and returned to the capital, he wanted to say a few words to support the façade, but when he saw that Zhao Kuangyin's little brother had pulled out his knife and shouted long live, Fan Qian also shouted long live.
Chai Rong's fourth loyalist was Li Jixun.
Li Jixun's experience was almost exactly the same as Shi Shouxin's, he was only a mid-level general in the Guo Wei era, but in the Battle of Gaoping, because he fully supported Chai Rong, he was promoted by Chai Rong as a confidant.
After that, Chai Rong was equivalent to his Bole, promoting him all the way, and finally commanding the envoys from the officer to the infantry, and was the third person in the Later Zhou military circle, second only to Zhao Kuangyin and Shi Shouxin.
When Zhao Kuangyin launched the Defeat of Chen Qiao's army, he did not directly participate in the mutiny because he was in Xingzhou, but when he learned the news that Zhao Kuangyin was called emperor, he immediately chose to shout "Long live" and instead threw himself under Zhao Kuangyin's door.
Chai Rong's fifth loyalists were Han Tong, Li Chongjin, and Li Jun.
Han Tong was a famous general and confidant of Guo Wei during the Guo Wei period; Li Chongjin was Guo Wei's nephew, who was already the commander of the palace in the Guo Wei era, and was even older than Chai Rong, so that before Guo Wei died, he had to deliberately let him prostrate himself to Chai Rong.
As for Li Yun, during the Guo Wei era, he was already an envoy of the Zhaoyi Army, ruling over the five prefectures of Ze, Lu, Xing, Huan, and Ci.
These three people were originally far higher in seniority and status in the military circles than Zhao Kuangyin, Shi Shouxin, and Li Jixun. The problem was that they were all important ministers of the Guo Wei era, and although Chai Rong respected them, he obviously would not cultivate them as his own confidants. Therefore, in the era of Chai Rong, they were all high and low in power.
For example, the titles of Han Tong, Li Jun, and Li Chongjin were all inspectors, which was probably the highest honorary title for Later Zhou soldiers, but the problem was that both Li Yun and Li Chongjin were expelled from the central government and driven to local posts; while Han Tong, although he remained in the central government, was only the deputy commander of the Ma Infantry Army, ranked under Zhao Kuangyin, Shi Shouxin, and Li Jixun.
In the end, when Zhao Kuangyin returned to the capital with his yellow robes, Han Tong wanted to organize an army to resist, but he was hacked to death by his men on the spot, and then Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother directly destroyed his full door.
As a patriarch of the Three Dynasties and the eldest brother of the central government, Han Tong was wiped out as soon as he resisted, and naturally no one in the imperial capital dared to say anything.
As for the local Li Yun and Li Chongjin, in order to appease them, Zhao Kuangyin not only gave them Danshu iron coupons, but also gave them the title of official, and finally they reluctantly accepted it under the persuasion of the left and right.
But later, they felt unwilling, so they chose to rebel.
The problem was that the best time had been missed at this time, because Zhao Kuangyin's throne was already secure; and their biggest disadvantage compared to Zhao Kuangyin was that they were all sitting in the local area, and Zhao Kuangyin was sitting in the center; in the context of the increasingly powerful centralized power, his disadvantage was very obvious, so the two were quickly defeated.
In the end, Li Yun chose to self-immolate and die, Li Chongjin sighed before his death, "I am ashamed of the grace of Zhou Taizu", and Yan Bi also set himself on fire and died with his family. Since then, naturally no one has dared to rebel against Zhao Kuangyin anymore!